The Mythos Threat - Cthulhu, Shubb Niggurath and Nyarlathotep
THE BIG THREE Of all the gods of the Mythos, three are most widely worshiped. Shubb Niggurath watches over many of those tribes living in now-fertile forests that have spread over the ruins of civilisation. Cthulhu touches those who ride the tides of the ocean, or conversely those who swim the dark currents of their own dreams. And Nyarlathotep comes to those who seek answers, to gift them with knowledge they were better off without. SHUBB-NIGGURATH: Shibb-Niggurath has become perhaps the most popular single deity since the Fall, as people have reached for a earth goddess figure who can keep the land fertile, so that people will survive, who can keep the people fertile, so that whole families will survive. It’s about watching the earthly circles, accepting that some things must die so that others may live. It’s about survival, although it’s often about survival of the fittest, and ensuring that you have the means (or simply the endurance) to be the fittest, or to remove all threats to that survival. The fertility cults of Shubb-Niggurath have often had close parallels with what we recognise as traditional pagan groups, which is hardly surprising given that her worship was, in many cases, the root of these pagan beliefs. Some cults still hold onto traditional pagan imagery, or the pagan imagery that quite often crossed over with Christian iconography. These societies are often welcoming little farming communities, but this is often because sacrifices are always welcome. Those who choose not to restrain or disguise their worship of Shubb Niggurath often abandon their homes to become wild things in the woods. Since the Fall much of what once was open cultivated land in more temperate areas has long since become woodland, and just as many worshippers of Shubb-Niggurath now live in these uncharted regions, so too do many Dark Young. In Amerika, much of the wilderness has been left unchecked for at least a couple of centuries. The temperate woodlands of Canada and the Pacific temperate rain forests of the North West have spread southwards, largely unhindered, so that regional cults often have close ties to their neighbours, even if they flare up into bitter rivalries. These cults often form within larger tribes, which are often semi-nomadic, moving around their territories in order to avoid using up too much of any valuable resource. The rivers and lakes found in more mountainous areas, away from the cities, are where the forests grow thickest and the cults grow strongest. These cults within tribes are usually given positions of status, being healers and midwives to the people, and their pagan prayers are often veiled and enigmatic. In other cases the cult inducts all members of a tribe, and live their lives in celebration of the gifts that Shubb Niggurath has given them, living lives to the fullest, and in praise to their goddess. The closest such tribe to Polity territory in Amerika is known as the Chesuncook Tribe, occupying a northern stretch of the Appalachian Mountains. They have villages dotted through-out their territory, often very small ones since they prefer not to be under the cover of anything more solid than that offered by the trees. Chesuncook Lake, in Maine, is where the least active members of the tribe congregate, the young, the old, and the sick. Those beyond any hope of serving the tribe in any useful manner usually allow themselves to be sacrificed, rather than take up valuable resources, although many elders have the capacity to endure beyond the limits of a natural lifespan. For special ocassions, such as Rites of Passage, Shubb-Niggurath is summoned to oversee proceedings, whilst for more sombre affairs, such as the farewell Wake of a valued member of the tribe, the Black Goat aspect of the goddess (possibly Nyarlathotep) will instead appear. These are nearly always grand affairs, with closest family members present, and often Dark Young and those tribesmen previously favoured by the goddess watching over. Ghouls have been known to sit in at Wakes, bodies offered to them once they have lain in the earth for a short while. The Ghouls are generally on good terms with the tribes, although they are very much guests within these mountains, particularly in the mountains close to the Lake, in which dark caverns shoggoth are known to lurk. Throughout the rest of the Appalachian territory the more active Chesuncook tribe members roam, collecting food and guarding the boundaries of their territories against those with hostile intentions. Strangers are often assumed to be enemies unless they prove otherwise. The tribesmen rarely enter into cities except to accept challenges put forward by fellow tribes members, or to seek items of significance to their goddess, or to talk with Ghouls on their own turf. The Chesuncook relationship with the Ghouls can best be described as an accord – the two factions only really compete in terms of territory, and the cities and woodlands define their own boundaries. This loose and undeclared 'non-aggression agreement' means that Ghouls are usually quick to alert the tribe to strangers crossing into their territory. There is talk of a South Amerikan tribe in the Amazon rainforests, although there has been little real contact with this region. Rumour has it that this tribe dwarfs even the Chesuncook tribe, and has much more in common with the blood-thirsty cannibals that worship entire pantheons. Further speculation states that, like their traditional name-sakes, these Amazons are exclusively women, and they actively seek out and kill men, spilling their blood onto the soil of the Amazonia, feeding the rainforests and encouraging its growth in all directions. They have some contact with the Deep Ones that now haunt the river, much like piranhas, but for the most part they are self-dependant. Closer to home though, somewhere amongst the new forests that have sprung up around Ohio, some people have stumbled upon a small farming community that sits in the centre of a large square of cultivated land, growing healthy corn and vegetables. It appears that the settlement sits in a square acre or two of land, amazingly dropped into the middle of the wild woodland, the treeline visible on the far side. There is a small thriving community here, who call themselves simply the Maryland Family. They’re a welcoming bunch, but they turn on those who try to leave, abusing them, holding them hostage, and using them for breeding stock. It’s all about the children, you see, life begetting new life. And when there’s too many people to support, the older generations sacrifice themselves to the soil of their farms, so that the children may live on. Much of the eastern border of Polity territory, particularly around Scandinavia and the mountainous eastern European countries, are covered with unchecked swathes of dark woodland, much like those seen in Amerika. This region has largely been unexplored, and the small communities discovered seem to follow variations of pre-Fall religions, often a combination of Christian with localised paganism. There doesn’t seem to be any large earth-mother cults, but there is much to suggest that these villages are having to defend themselves against dark primal forces that lurk, unseen, in the woods, rumoured to be witches and ‘beast-men’. These creatures are rarely seen, and their victims rarely found alive, but by dark the forests seem to come alive with the noise of feral – some say unnatural - animals. Finally, where Goatswood once stood, in the Severn Valley, the woodland has been absorbed into the green belt around Bristol – although the original site falls within a restricted military zone, there is little doubt that the Goatswood cult has spread, if gone underground. Certain local members of the Polity, going under the classification of ‘Sub-Negative’, harbour a belief that much of what has happened in the natural world since the Fall is Mother Earth’s revenge on man, and are prepared to sacrifice unbelievers to her. Their conspiracy is a uniquely British one, in that they seek to restore the British Isle to their former glory, although not necessarily a pagan one – they have no illusions that they can recreate an idyllic pagan paradise. Instead they are prepared to evolve and adapt to whatever new world Shubb-Niggurath creates, although their short term goals are to maintain her worship in the Severn Valley. CTHULHU: Of all the Great Old Ones on earth, Great Cthulhu has greatest sway over the human race. Those who follow Cthulhu tend to fall into two camps. The first camp are the Dreamers, those who receive the nightmarish images projected by Cthulhu in his own dark dreams, based for the most part around deep and ancient R'lyeh, on the bottom of vast Pacifica. The other camp are the Dagonites, those half a world away, who commune with the Deep Ones of Atlantica and the smaller seas around Europa and Africa. Whilst long thought that the water acts as a buffer between Cthulhu and the human world above, recent attempts to understand the cults of Cthulhu (by those few cultists with a global view) is that the waters channel and concentrate the effects of the dreams. Whilst those continents bordering Pacifica, namely the Amerikas and Eastern Azia, have always demonstrated minds sensitive to the terrible dreams of Cthulhu, the greatest concentrations of human interaction with Deep Ones has been along the Atlantica coastline of Amerika, and the coasts of Western Europa, and it is through interaction with these creatures that whole communities have worshiped Cthulhu. It seems likely that, in these parts of the ocean furthest from the Great Old One that Dagon and Hydra rule in his stead. Through their association with these monsters the human tribes and settlements look up to Cthulhu less as a god and more as a great, albeit distant, ruler. No doubt they hear Cthulhu’s dreams all the louder than us, particularly those taken to swimming the deepest reaches of Pacifica. The Deep Ones know their god exists, have regular contact with him, and bask in his dreams. Because he is ever in their minds, whether they want it or not, all Deep Ones feel a close connection to the Great Old One, and look to him as if an older relative, a patriarch. Those hybrids that live on land get a sense of this community, even if they are unable to fully appreciate the innate sense of being part of Cthulhu. As far as they are concerned, he is family. Of course to him, the Deep Ones and their cousins on land are still little more than fish food. As ever, people from all corners of the globe worship Cthulhu – many of no idea quite what they are worshiping, most of them not realising that they’re not even targets for the nightmarish visions they receive. Still, it is the coastal regions that have seen the greatest increase in people prepared to dedicate themselves to the Great Old One, regions where they best understand that their god slumbers beneath the waves in deep R’lyeh. Whole coastal communities have forged alliances with the Deep Ones that increasingly plague the oceans and rivers, as do the majority of the pirate crews that terrorise the oceans. In fact it is only just becoming obvious to the Polity, and the other ‘world powers’, how much the pirates appear to be working together, almost a nation unto itself. The pirates are perhaps the most publicly recognised face of Cthulhu cultism, even if their worship for their evil god is usually glossed over by the more immediate facts and threats. They are killers and marauders and it’s normal Polity policy to kill them on sight. It’s never the case that a cornered pirate will find the need (or time) to detail his connection with an immense dreaming alien mind. Off Amerika, particularly around the Gulf of Mexico, there are a group of pirates that refer to themselves as the Red Tide, naming themselves after the red algae formation that grows unnaturally just under the surface of the water. By the year 400 this bizarre toxic ocean vegetation has spread to such an extent that the pirates can farm it for food – rumour has it that they also feed victims to it. Most of the pirate fleets encountered by the Polity are in Southern Atlantica, where they maintain strong ties with the Deep Ones, happy to sacrifice humans to them (or to offer them up for breeding stock). These pirates are a hateful 'tribe' that are less indoctrined than most cults seem to be. Instead they are opportunist and ruthless, and thoroughly unpredictable. However, the longer they associate with the Deep Ones, and the longer they maintain their lives on the waves, the closer they get to tuning into the dreams of Cthulhu. Those pirates that have what might best be called a religion epiphany often desert Atlantica for Pacifica, away from the large Pirate States dotted around the coast of Africa, to join the imposing construction made up of hundreds of boats, bound tightly together into a complex cohesive floating settlement, which in many ways is the spiritual home for those pirates that have bridged the gap from Dagonite to Dreamer. Whilst effectively a tribe, the pirates who live in the large floating settlement on the surface of Southern Pacifica are the mad but revered wisemen of the pirate nation. Those pirates that dwell here for any amount of time only leave the comforts of their isolated ocean home in order to secure food, fresh water and the occasional victim. This is because of one key thing that shapes their lives, and yet it is impossible for outsiders to guess at. The boats are anchored - somehow - to a point on the surface the Pacific Ocean where Cthulhu’s dreams are clearest, immediately above the his tomb in deep dark R’lyeh. The majority of the people that live in this floating city spend long hours sleeping, trying to listen to what their master is conveying to them, but the intensity of these dreams drives even the hardest pirate insane. It’s not uncommon for those awaking from particular violent dreams to slaughter those that still slumber around them. And yet with insanity comes illumination, and those same minds are able to work magics that calm the seas when they get too fierce, that control passing storm clouds, even the ability to swim without air and visit R’lyeh in person. The Dreamers and the Dagonites then are two very distinct factions. The Dreamers almost exclusively believe they have been chosen. Whether they live a life on the ocean or roam the overgrown wildernesses of Amerika, believe they have been singled out for particular attention. Indeed, making a connection with a being so vast and ancient is a feeling almost as euphoric as it is nightmarish. In truth whilst the Great Old One might possibly consider the largest Deep Ones, Dagon and Hydra amongst them, as useful tools or favoured pets, there’s little to suggest that humans register any more than plankton does to a blue whale. This doesn’t mean that their plans are entirely redundant; it simply means that great Cthulhu simply doesn’t consider these little insects worthy of much attention. Many of these Dreamers don’t truly grasp the nature of Cthulhu, or his tomb of R’lyeh deep beneath the waves, but they sense something dark and deep and powerful. A small number do catch glimpses, and try to commit these to paper, or canvas, or song, but more likely these images bring madness, causing dementia and hysteria. In these troubled times madness is a double edged blade – those that are able to control their madness, channelling it into deliberate acts of violence or destruction, can survive better than those who stumble around shouting to the heavens. No small number of lone psychopaths and degenerates have felt compelled, by the dark looming figure they feel echoing in their skulls, towards terrible acts of violence and cruelty. Whilst others, previously seen to be so caring and valuable within their communities, have often turned on them, to deliver them from the terrible fate that threatens to engulf the world. There are a few isolated communities dotted around that swear allegiance to either the Deep Ones or the Great Dreamer. Inland from the Gulf of Mexico, in the waterlogged ruins of New Orleans – or Nyarleans as it is commonly known – Deep Ones live close to their human families, although these families are more often than not living in the higher levels of trashed buildings. The Deep Ones and the city’s Ghouls have an agreement that means they generally don’t mess with each other, but given the shortage of other food most other residents of the city are fair game – a few notorious individuals associated with other gods are generally avoided. Visitors to the city are often spotted from a distance, and eagerly awaited. The Deep Ones and their human allies are on good terms with the pirates too, and often the more intense and faithful youths join the pirates once they’re old enough. The Esoteric Order of Dagon, once a major source of Cthulhu worship, is now the main religion for countless isolated communities just off the Atlantican coast. The west and south coast of Africa in particular has a lot of tribes and cults devoted to Dagon. However, government officials within both the Polity and the Nile Empire have unearthed references to this ancient sect, and a few have even gone as far as to recognise the references to Devolved beings, and to make pacts with their more monstrous underwater counterparts. These little cults operate from deep in the shadows, sometimes to retrieve more Deep One gold for the archives, some to seek genuine magical power. The Deep Ones still demand the sacrifice of human souls, but then to some members of the Polity finding a hundred or so undesirable souls to extinguish is not such a troublesome thing. Far from the Polity, in San Fransisco, staring straight out across Pacifica, there is a small commune that calls itself the The New Order, overlooking the ruins of Alcatraz. Whilst the island and the crumbled shell upon it is more the haunt of pirates, and those underwater monsters that dwell within, the city itself is home to this strange cult, the descendants of open-minded Californians and native Americans that have learnt just enough to keep themselves alive, having secured just enough know-how from the archives of the original Esoteric Order of Dagon to give them an edge and an earthquake proof bunker in which to live out their remaining days. More importantly the leader of the New Order, Joshua Abraham, has in his possession an amulet of some unidentified deep blue stone. It seems to communicate Cthulhu’s dreams on a deep subconscious level, so that those already attuned to those dreams feel respect for (or fear of) the person wearing it. This, and a small degree of magical talent, has ensured the tribe have outlived other, tougher, tribes – it’s also allowed them to forge alliances with local cults and the pirates that moor at Alcatraz. As tribes go, it’s not particularly savage, and they welcome the more civilised people they encounter to join their commune, encourage them to 'listen' to the dreams. Those that turn their backs on the tribe don’t live long. In the middle of Amerika, far from any ocean, the semi-nomadic tribe who call themselves the Children of the Deep Blue Sky imagine that their god watches over them from the vast expanse of sky above. Just the sight of the sky reminds them of their dreaming god, unseen but ever present, in the shifting world above. The tribe prefer to be out in the open, even at night, since they live life in accordance to the whim of their almighty sky god, going to war on their neighbours during storms, travelling during windy seasons in whichever direction it calls them. They are cattle farmers, on the whole, meaning they can move around with ease, and source other food from the people whose land they are directed towards. (Si-wouldnt this be more fitting as a Yog-Sothoth cult or Ithaqua cult?) In the Painted Desert of Arizona there also exists a shamanic cult that worships Cthulhu as "Hashtaał ch'ał" in Navajo or "Singing Toad". It's followers go out into the painted desert on special nights, leaving their families and clothes behind and go into a trance which only the most devout can transpose into a gateway into the past to a time the desert was actually an inner sea. The shamans followers see the shaman float upwards in thin air when the moon paints the desert blue as if swimming in some long forgotten ocean. Dark shadows of great long extinct sea creatures stalk across the midnight sand. All present can hear the thoughts of Cthulhu and at the culmination of the rite those who are blessed are suddenly ripped apart by some invisible monster at high altitude, their remains falling to the desert floor as the illusion ends. As well as any mortal remains followers will also find shells and small sea creatures (some still alive) and will treat them as revered totems. The masters of all the Cthulhu cults remain the deathless Chinese sorcerers spoken of in hushed tones, often linked to the other mysterious eastern cults. No-one truly knows if they truly exist, but they are still rumoured to somehow be behind a global conspiracy in a world split into so many broken pieces. Perhaps they make use of magic to transfer messages (or messengers) between different ‘cells’ of the conspiracy. Others suggest that they are able to send dreams of their own to those minds most receptive to Cthulhu’s dreams. In any case there’s little evidence of a collective of powerful eastern sorcerers coordinating Cthulhu’s human followers. There are, however, many instances of mysterious deaths amongst those that have revealed too much about the cults. Whether this points to co-ordination by unseen masters or the cults commitments to keeping their secrets their own is debateable. NYARLATHOTEP Of the Big Three gods prayed to by cults worldwide, Nyarlathotep is the one who has more face to face contact with humans, sometimes walking amongst them as if he were one of them. Whilst Shubb-Niggurath taps into a feminine concept of fertility and of bringing forth life from the soil, and Cthulhu taps into the masculine concept of the father figure, wise, deep and unknowable, each taking claim to the land and the seas respectively, Nyarlathotep taps into the human need for a god that can be spoken to, can be seen and dealt with. At his most human he is just that, fully capable of conversing, of answering questions, of granting boons. Of seeming incredibly reasonable. At his most monstrous he is still glorious to behold, terrifying but oh-so-very real. Few gods appear as often as he does, and it is no wonder there are so many cults spread worldwide, performing deeds in his name. It's impossible, of course, to see what Nyarlathotep's motivations are. Does he simply serve the great gods such as Shubb Niggurath and Yog Sothoth as their messenger, or does he seek to bring on the return of the Great Old Ones from their aeon-long slumber? No-one can be sure. What does seem to be the case, however, is that he carries out his various schemes very much like the chess master who can simulataneously play countless games of chess, and win most of them. Those he doesn't win seem to phase him only temporarily, and it's unclear whether he really holds a grudge. Like the tricksters and tempter gods of traditional and classical religions (which may simply be masks of Nyarlathotep in any case), he seems to be able to appreciate a gamble for what it is. Those that play the game well are, no doubt, invited to the table again. Double or quits? It's impossible to discuss all of the groups that dedicate themselves to Nyarlathotep in the year 400. There's too many of them now active. However, it will help to go over some of the major pre-Fall cults and explain how they've evolved over the last few centuries, as well as highlight a few new ones. Nyarlathotep's worship has always been strongest in Africa, "the cradle of civilisation", and in these dark days it is still here that his worship is concentrated. The Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh and the Brotherhood of the Beast are two of His more notorious cults, having similar origins amongst the sands of ancient Egypt. Whilst occasionally working in unison, their gods and motives are distinct. The Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh has concentrated its development in and around the Nile Republic, although if it has a hand in the activities of the government it isn't immediately apparent. It seems more likely that they have members within the government who keep an eye on world events, and look for ways to seize more power locally. Whilst the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh concentrate their efforts around the territories of the Nile Empire, the Brotherhood of the Beast has spread far and wide from Egypt, and indeed has done so since before the Fall. This cult has followed and protected those who shared a bloodline with Nophru-Ka, the ancient Egyptian high priest dedicated to Nyarlathotep in the form of the Great Beast. In later years the majority of the cult's members were also members of the bloodline, as it seemed the best way to reinforce bonds of loyalty (and, to an extent, secrecy), leading it to be more commonly known simply as The Bloodline. This Brotherhood of the Beast has always been well connected too, fortunate enough to have, amongst their patrons, immortals dedicated to ushering in an age of chaos. They've come so close now, with the time soon right for the stars to fall into place and destruction visited upon the planet. Guiding the Bloodline from the shadows, they've ensured that its members were brought under the Polity banner when it was still in its infancy. Whilst none of the highest ranks of officer fall under the sway of this cult, a number of respectable families across Europa and Amerika do. The avatar of Nyarlathotep as the Beast can only be summoned in Egypt so it seems likely that, at some stage, the Bloodline will attempt to wrestled control of the Nile Empire away from those that follow the Black Pharaoh. Whilst the Bloodline have strength of numbers, the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh have a great deal of ancient Egyptian sorcery at their disposal, so the two cults are pretty evenly matched. Furthermore, the further from ancient Egypt the Bloodline traveled, the more they began to succumb to the lure of other avatars of Nyarlathotep. On the eastern European borders of the Polity's empire, closest to the edge of the Desolation, one branch of the Bloodline have turned their back on the Beast of old, and devote themselves to the Black Star they claim fell to earth. The Pride of the Black Star send their youngest members into the Desolation to commune with their god, to keep their vision of the end-times fresh. The Pride occasionally leave their settlement to find sacrifices to their god, but they are not cannibals. They farm what land they can this close to the Desolation, and their servitude seems to ensure their survival in this inhospitable place. The Pride do not have any terrible agenda to speak of, though they hope to be instrumental in the world's destruction some day, at which point they will join the Black Star in heaven. Should they find anything in the Desolation that hints at how they might bring about this destruction, they won't hesitate to use it. To the south of the Nile Empire two major cults have dominance of the African wilderness. The Cult of the Bloody Tongue, concentrated along the countries that line the east coast (and with some small presence in the Nile Empire), worship the Bloody Tongue avatar of Nyarlathotep, and with their control of terrible winds have been known to work closely with pirates and other Cthulhu cultists that use the eastern ports as a base of operation. Along the western edge of the African continent, especially around the Congo, the Spiralling Worm Cult worship Nyarlathotep's aspect as Ahtu, with magic that leans towards necromancy. These cults have not changed much over the centuries, depending on ancient savage traditions to ensure their survival in these uncivilised times, but have grown to full fledged tribal communities than span countries. The borderlands between the territories of these two tribes is less a battlefield and more a hostile wilderness which is no longer safe for anyone. Whilst nothing on the scale of the Desolation, the whole region is covered in desert and frequently ravaged by severe sandstorms that threaten to strip the flesh from the bones. Some suggest that this is a manifestation of Nyarlathotep, whilst others suggest it merely conceals one. Within the Polity there are few Nyarlathotep cults, as such. His followers are more isolated, his worship is more subtle. Considerably more dangerous than the few enigmatic dark-skinned figures seen fleetingly across Europa and Amerika are the various hauntings and urban myths attributed to Nyarlathotep. For example, the elusive serial killer labelled Mr Nowhere Man, who has plagued the Amerikan capital in recent years. He appears to understand the strategems of the Watchmen and is able to run rings around them. In reality he is not one individual but a series of victims, each haunted by an aspect of Nyarlathotep that speaks to them through their own reflection. He attaches himself to them in turn, moving on once he can no longer use his current victim. These people are always those who've already taken a few knocks in life, already in someway broken and beginning to question their own sanity, but in particular Nyarlathotep delights in selecting those already on the trail of the elusive Mr Nowhere Man. He speaks to them with their own voices, their own faces, convincing them that they're mad and that there might be some release if they carry out the hideous suggestions their 'subconscious' seems to require. And when he finally leaves his host, battered and broken and unable to run any more, he takes their face with him. To add to the thousands he already has. Finally, elsewhere in Amerika, we come full circle to find how the teachings of the two Brotherhoods have become distorted, long buried in the wake of the Fall. In the Nevada desert, in the dark of night, a powerful artificial light shines into the sky. Those that follow it find a great pyramid buried beneath the sands, and those that can make their way into the halls within find a strange artificial wonderland. Enough electricity is being generated, somehow, to conjure up a twilight world of yesteryear, complete with music long lost to the centuries. Most of the furnishing are torn and tattered but otherwise fuctional. Here the lucky few who have 'seen the light' live in relative luxury, away from the harsh realities of the world above. These people do not worship Nyarlathotep as the Beast, or even as the Black Pharaoh. Instead they revere The Living King, an enigmatic figure that is known to visit the faithful, in their hour of need. The stories of The Living King are a confusing amalgamation of stories that predate the Fall, from the two Brotherhoods, from popular religion and from Vegas legend, where-upon the True Believers are bearing witness to the Second Coming of the King of King, and now live in paradise with him, beneath the sands. Strangers that come in from the cold of the desert night are always welcome to stay, as long as they are prepared to accept the light of their god into their lives. Unbelievers are welcome too, of course. But then the True Believers are cannibals, and cannibals always welcome fresh meat.